


Apposite - Buffy Version

by cutsycat



Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [1077]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fusion, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Vampire Slayer, Inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), M/M, Vampire Slayer(s), Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 07:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15165533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/pseuds/cutsycat
Summary: At a young age, Gibbs did something stupid, which led to him discovering that he had the potential to be a slayer(ala Buffy kind of slayer verse). Ducky became his watcher and strangely not as many things changed as one might have expected, though his rules aren't quite the same as the ones you may be used to from the show. He still lives by his rules and it even explains why. Mostly... This is Gibbs' the slayer's origin story.





	1. The potential and the first rule

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TT_Angst_Queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TT_Angst_Queen/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [TT_Angst_Queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TT_Angst_Queen/pseuds/TT_Angst_Queen) in the [NCIS_Prompts_2017](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/NCIS_Prompts_2017) collection. 



> Another dictionary.com word of the day drabble. This time from 04/12/2002 for the word [apposite](http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/2002/04/12/apposite).
> 
> apposite  
> Being of striking appropriateness and relevance; very applicable;apt.
> 
> This was requested by Tardis_Type40 as part of my 2017 prompt challenge. You can prompt me in 2018 [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2018/profile) by clicking the sign up link.
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> Tony gets turned into a Vampire. Gibbs is the Slayer. Rule Twelve and Ten applies but gets thrown out and beaten into submission. Tibbs Buffy AU. 
> 
> **End Prompt**
> 
> It started off as a Tibbs Buffy Crossover thing where Gibbs was the slayer and then it kind of grew its own mind. I hope you guys enjoy all the little twists and turns. This is completely finished and I hope to get all 7 chapters posted today, but I may not be able to get them all posted until tomorrow. We'll just have to see how my day goes.

“I hate you!” Leroy Jethro Gibbs screamed at the young age of 17, almost 18.

“Now, son.” Jackson started, trying to remain calm. 

“No!” Leroy yelled. “Ever since mom died you’ve been more controlling, more pushy, and more interfering. I’m almost an adult. I can lead my own life.”

Jackson turned a deep red in anger. His son knew exactly which buttons to push to anger him. Without his wife to play peacemaker neither of them were doing well at holding in their tempers. “You still live under my house and you’ll follow my rules!” Jackson raged.

“Maybe I won’t live under your house anymore then! I’ll make my own rules!” Leroy shouted back and stormed out of the room.

Jackson’s rage burned as his son left his sight and eventually he collapsed in on himself. He missed his wife something dreadful, but he missed his son even more. No matter what he did it seemed to just drive his son away even more.

Jackson startled from his thoughts at the knock on their door. Opening the door, he blinked in surprise at the uniformed men with a striking British appearance. What on Earth were the British doing in Stillwater, Pennsylvania? “Can I help you?”

“We’re looking for Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Is he here?”

Jackson frowned, but gestured for them to come in. Closing the door behind them, Jackson crossed his arms, “Now, what is this all about?”

“Leroy has been accepted to the Marines. We’re here to take him to basic training.”

“He’s not old enough to join the Marines.”

Leroy stormed into the room, “You can’t stop me from joining the Marines if I want to.” To the british soldiers, Leroy ordered, “Let’s go.”

Jackson watched his son and the british soldiers leave, worry pooling in his belly. Jackson wanted to stop his son from leaving, but after the argument they just had he knew it would only make things worse if he tried to stop Leroy from leaving. Still he worried about his son. 

He didn’t believe for one minute that they were taking him to basic training to become a US Marine. He doubted that they were going to purposefully hurt his son. They’d have stormed the house if that was their goal, but that didn’t mean that they were taking him somewhere fun either. 

Still it was Leroy’s choice to make and some things one had to learn the hard way. Jackson just hoped that his son didn’t grow to regret this. He didn’t blame him for leaving. 

They hadn’t been getting along, at all, since his wife’s death, but he couldn’t help worrying for his son nonetheless. Running the general store, the town quickly noticed the lack of his sulking son stocking shelves. When asked about Leroy, Jackson just explained that he’d decided to join the Marines. 

He hoped that he would see his son again soon. Quit wasn’t really in Leroy’s vocabulary, so Jackson expected Leroy to see whatever this was through to the end. He never imagined that it would be more than 10 years before he would see even a single hair of his son’s head again. 

Hustling everyone out and into the van before his father came after them, Gibbs waited until they were on their way before announcing, “This is complete bullshit. There’s no way you’re US Marines. What’s really going on?”

One of the younger british men snorted. A more middle aged Brit turned around, curious, “Why did you come with us if you knew we were lying?”

“None of your business.” Gibbs glared.

“Ducky,” The oldest of them, who looked older than dirt to Gibbs’ eyes, gestured to the middle aged Brit, “will explain in detail when we get to our base. Suffice to say it’s a matter of life and death.” 

Gibbs wasn’t impressed with that explanation and his lips curled up in a snarl while he stared daggers at the older British man. He was even less impressed when the van was attacked after darkness descended and all the Brits looked to him to defend them. “What am I? The savior?”

“More like the slayer.” Ducky murmured.

“What?”

“Less talking more fighting.” The younger one pointed frantically at the vampires closing in on them. 

Fortunately, Gibbs had a natural fighting ability. Unfortunately, it became clear rather quickly that what he was fighting was not human. The vampires were working in packs making it impossible for him to trap and subdue one.

He had a knife with him, but despite slashing multiple of them in various places they just keep coming. It was like the wounds didn’t even affect them.

Ducky, in his role of watcher to Gibbs, had no desire to lose his charge this quickly and called out, “Cut off their heads.”

Gibbs looked back at him askance. He generally tried to avoid inflicting fatal injuries unless he had no choice. Even with that advice, however, the vampires worked together so well that Gibbs found no openings to actually cut off their heads.

“Gibbs!” The younger Brit yelled, tossing him a stake.

Gibbs reflexively caught the stake, he was beginning to like the younger brit even if he had no idea why the man had tossed him a stake. Gibbs put his confusion regarding the stake out of his mind as he hurriedly danced backwards out of the way of the hands reaching for him.

“Stab them through the heart.” Ducky suggested calmly.

Strangely, it was easier to stab them in the heart than to cut off their heads. It was still a struggle for Gibbs to stay alive. He almost found himself stabbed through a vital organ, due to his shock, when he finally connected the stake with the heart of one of his attackers, who immediately turned to dust.

It was only his instincts that saved him from a deadly blow and he attacked back with a ferocity in retaliation. He traded blows with the one who’d almost caught him unaware before using a spinning kick to drive the other two closing in on him away. He managed to stake the other one and looked around happy to discover there were just the two left.

The two vampires separated to come at Gibbs from both sides. They’d clearly worked together before as they moved together, but Gibbs twisted out of the way and managed to slice his knife across the neck of one, who turned to dust as his head separated from his body. That just left one and Gibbs quickly finished that one as well before returning to the van.

“What the hell was that?”

“Vampires.” The younger brit grinned at Gibbs.

“I’m going to need that full explanation soon.”

“We’re almost there. Let’s wait till we’re guaranteed privacy.” The elder Brit suggested.

Gibbs growled in frustration. Fortunately, they arrived at Gibbs’ new home before Gibbs could get too impatient. Gibbs walked into the small house and looked around a bit disdainfully.

“We’re all staying here?”

“No. Just you and me.” Ducky murmured. 

“We’ll leave you in Ducky’s capable hands.” The other brits waved and drove off, though not without the elder tossing out, “Don’t let us down. The fate of the world may be in your hands.”

Gibbs stared after the vehicle in confusion. “We don’t have a car?”

“We do, but I don’t trust just anyone to drive it. A previous assistant of mine practically stripped it’s gears the one time he tried to drive it.” 

Gibbs nodded, disinterestedly. He didn’t really care about Ducky’s concern for his precious automobile. He wanted to know what the heck he’d been fighting and what was going on. Gibbs stared pointedly at Ducky waiting for him to explain what the heck was going on.

Ducky meandered through a number of different stories before Gibbs grew frustrated enough to interrupt him. “Ducky!” Gibbs growled. 

Ducky blinked, “I say. It’s quite rude to interrupt someone in the middle of a story.”

Gibbs ignored him and continued, “What did he mean that the fate of the world may be in my hands?”

“Young people, always impatient.” Ducky shook his head and launched into an explanation of vampires and the potentials that the watcher council, most of whom had just left, guided, trained and supported to prepare them to be the slayer should the power fall to them.

“Are you telling me that I’m one of these slayers?” Gibbs mouth dropped open, completely aghast at the idea of being some chosen one. He was just an ordinary man. He wasn’t special. He planned to work for a living, thank you very much.

“Right now, you are only a potential. At the death of the current slayer, you may be chosen to become the next slayer.”

Gibbs shook his head. There was too much fate and mumbo jumbo going on for him. He was a down to earth guy and what these watchers were spouting just didn’t make any sense.

Still now that he no longer lived with his father, Gibbs quickly started making his own rules as he progressed through training and learned more about the vampires he’d apparently be fighting. He didn’t miss his father’s rules in the slightest. Unlike his father’s random rules, his rules were born out of life and death situations. 

The first rule he based off of his first experience fighting vampires. Never let vampires stay together. He used it as a motto for his later battles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gibbs' rules so far:  
> Rule 1: Never let vampires stay together


	2. Gibbs' wives aka the rule starters

He quickly grew bored of the training battles and enlisted in the actual marines. It was actually on his way to enlist for the Marines that he met his first wife, Shannon. Shannon didn’t know anything about vampires and Gibbs was happy to keep it that way. 

After marrying Shannon, he shipped out with Ducky. He couldn’t shake Ducky. Even on the battlefields, Ducky watched after him. 

Actually, one particularly tough mission as a Marine led to his second rule. When they initiated the mission they didn’t realize they were dealing with vampires. It was only Ducky throwing Gibbs a bottle of holy water and a cross that prevented the decimation of his entire battalion. 

They still lost Lieutenant David Cameron, who died in Gibbs’ arms. He fashioned his second rule, “Always carry holy water and a cross”, to honor Lieutenant David Cameron who fought bravely in the face of something he wasn’t prepared to handle. This wasn’t the only rule he made while in the Marines.

After many missions, Gibbs adopted rule #3, “Always know where your friends are” subtitled “Never let them be unreachable. They’re probably with vampires if they are.” He couldn’t count the number of times that a few of the men had gotten separated from the rest of the battalion and they’d eventually found them dead and drained of blood or fighting for their lives against vampires. Gibbs would have loved to have done without this rule, but it had proved necessary time and time again.

It was rare for Gibbs to make it home to visit Shannon, but they exchanged letters constantly. He made it home frequently enough to form his baby girl, Kelly, though. He loved Kelly. 

It was a shock to be told by his commanding officer that Shannon and Kelly had been killed. He immediately took leave to head home and find out what had happened. He ran into Mike Franks who had been the agent in charge of protecting Shannon and Kelly.

Apparently Shannon had witnessed a crime featuring a major drug deal. She wasn’t one to just sit by idly and had agreed to testify at his trial. Only, the drug dealer, Hernandez, had managed to kill her and Kelly before it was her turn to testify.

Franks didn’t seem to know, but Gibbs knew immediately when he identified his wife and daughter’s bodies that they’d been killed by a vampire. Gibbs swore revenge and pestered Franks until Franks gave in and gave him the information on the person they knew killed Shannon and Kelly, but couldn’t prove it. Gibbs felt a strong surge of satisfaction as he slammed a stake into the heart of the vampire who murdered his wife and child.

He impressed Franks with his skill and soon had a job working at NCIS. Ducky apparently had a medical background and easily found himself a position as medical examiner, so that he could continue to watch over Gibbs. 

Between his secret regarding the vampire Hernandez, a few secrets shared with Mike like the transportation of illegal immigrants, and a few less than happy secrets with Jenny Shepard, Gibbs instituted the rule, “The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? Tell one other person - if you must. There is no third best.” Of course, not all of his rules stayed the same over time. This rule, in particular, changed when he ran into a rather troubling vampire. 

This vampire actually generated multiple rules as he made the mistake of marrying her. Her name was Diane. She reminded him of Shannon, his dead wife, with her red hair. 

Diane had the unsettling ability to read his mind and find out the secrets that he didn’t want her to know. She complained that he didn’t talk and that she had to read his mind in order to have any idea of what he was thinking. She also threw a hissy fit every time he thought about Shannon, which happened frequently.

He ended up scavenging through magical artifacts that Ducky had before finding an amulet that blocked Diane’s ability to read his mind. Updating rule 4 to “The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? Tell one other person - if you must. Third best - get an amulet so no one can read your mind. There is no fourth best.”, Gibbs wasn’t prepared for the reaction Diane would have to not being able to read his mind anymore. He quickly regretted dodging her attack with the seven iron. 

Calling himself all sorts of names as it became obvious that Diane was a vampire, Gibbs added another rule #1, “Never screw your partner” with the addition of a subtitle, “He or she is probably a vampire.” Fighting his vampire spouse made him almost wish that he was already the slayer. At least, then, having vampires hunting him would make sense. 

Gibbs couldn’t help wondering if the vampires actually watched the watchers' council. Ever since Gibbs had gained a watcher, vampires had surrounded him even though he wasn’t the actual slayer. With the amount of vampires that seemed to fill his life, Gibbs ended up adopting rule 5, “You don’t waste good.” 

The reason for this rule related to the increasing number of vampires that Gibbs ran into in his job. There were increasingly few people that actually stood up to criminals both human and vampire. On top of that ever since Franks retired, he’d had trouble finding a good agent that could actually work with him.

Despite his two bad experiences with his wives, one dead and the other undead, Gibbs married again. This time he married a woman named Rebecca. She seemed nice enough until he found her in bed with someone else. 

She tried to apologize, but Gibbs could tell she didn’t mean it. He interrupted her with rule 6, “Never say you’re sorry. It’s a sign of weakness.”

The more he ran into vampires involved in his NCIS cases, the more rule 7, “Always be specific when you lie,” became necessary. Rule 8, “Never take anything for granted,” also played a large role in all of his NCIS cases, especially when they involved vampires. If you looked at the case assuming it was a vampire or a human and it was the other, you often missed critical pieces of information, hence the new rule.

Gibbs lost count of the number of times that vampires attacked him while at a crime scene. He quickly added rule 9, “Never go anywhere without a stake.” He soon couldn’t even go to the grocery store without a vampire attacking him. He forced his agents to carry stakes too, even though they all looked at him strangely, but it had saved his and their lives more than once.

Of course, his agents inevitably transferred away from him the first time they met a vampire on a case. He became known as a bastard and hard to work for. Gibbs didn’t mind that reputation in the slightest. In fact, he kind of liked it. 

The director wasn’t overly fond of it though and assigned Gibbs to some undercover work in Russia, but not before Ducky introduced Gibbs to Stephanie. Stephanie and him married quickly, Gibbs trusting in Ducky too much and knowing that marriage would be the only way Stephanie would be allowed to come with him to Russia. That’s actually what led to the 2nd rule 3, “Don’t believe what you’re told. Double check that they have a reflection.”

He’d trusted that Ducky would only introduce him to other slayers or humans, so for Stephanie to be a vampire, reformed or not, shocked him. Especially the first time she tried to drink his blood and make him her mate. He quickly returned to the US, leaving her in Russia while he sought a divorce from her. 

Even though he broke things off with her cleanly, she still regretted the way their relationship ended and would drunk dial him on their anniversary. It drove him crazy and led to rule 10, “Never get personally involved with a vampire.” She was a vampire, but he couldn’t bring himself to kill her even though she definitely wasn’t the love of his life.

After Stephanie, he ended up on an undercover mission in Paris with Jenny Shepard. This unfortunately, led to rule 11 and 12. Rule 11, “When the job is done, walk away,” he implemented after their undercover mission went sideways unexpectedly and there was no way that they could complete the mission. He added rule 12, “Never, ever date a vampire,” when he realized that Jenny was a vampire and that she’d just screwed him to further advance her career. 

Even though, Jenny was never actually a wife, it wasn’t until after his relationship with her ended disastrously that his divorce case with Stephanie got brought to court. He hadn’t realized that Stephanie hated him so much until then. 

Regardless of whether it was Stephanie’s choice or not, he realized he needed rule 13, “Never, ever involve lawyers, they’re probably working for a demonic firm,” when they almost caused him to lose his house. It was only sheer luck and Director Tom Morrow’s intervention that allowed him to keep the house that was still only listed in his name now that Shannon was dead. Of course, in exchange for the house they took it from him monetarily in a way that guaranteed he’d never be able to afford another wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gibbs' rules so far:  
> Rule 1 Never let vampires stay together  
> Rule 1 Never screw your partner (he or she is probably a vampire)  
> Rule 2 Always carry holy water and a cross  
> Rule 3 Don’t believe what you’re told. Double check that they have a reflection.  
> Rule 3 Always know where your friends are (never let them be unreachable - they’re probably with vampires if they are)  
> Rule 4 The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? tell one other person - if you must, Third way, get an amulet so no one can read your mind. There is no fourth best  
> Rule 5 You don’t waste good  
> Rule 6 Never say you’re sorry it’s a sign of weakness  
> Rule 7 Always be specific when you lie  
> Rule 8 Never take anything for granted  
> Rule 9 Never go anywhere without a stake  
> Rule 10 Never get personally involved with a vampire  
> Rule 11 When the job is done, walk away  
> Rule 12 Never, ever date a vampire  
> Rule 13 Never, ever involve lawyers, they’re probably working for a demotic firm


	3. Enter Vampire Tony and the rest of the rules

So far the only agent on his team to have lasted any decent amount of time was Stan Burley. Stan came from Washington, D.C. and apparently dealing with the paperwork a Senator’s Aide was expected to handle was even more difficult than the fighting the occasional vampire that came after Gibbs. It was actually Stan that showed Gibbs you could bend the line without breaking it. 

He’d done it many times with the paperwork that had crossed his desk as a Senator’s Aide. Gibbs found that rule to be an increasing necessity as vampires continued to complicate his NCIS cases and added rule 14, “Bend the line, don’t break it.”

Still he’d never meshed with Stan and even Stan had finally given up and taken an agent afloat job. Gibbs had gotten stuck with multiple probies, after that. Losing many of them to vampires because they refused to work together, he’d had to institute rule 15, “Always work as a team or else you can become dinner for a vampire.”

During a particularly strenuous investigation of a serial killer that turned out to be a vampire, Gibbs instituted rule 16, “If a vampire thinks they have the upper hand, break it.”

New probies to Gibbs’ team quickly learned rule 17, “Never, ever interrupt Gibbs during a vampiric battle.” Not only did it stupidly endanger everyone involved in the battle by distracting them, but doing so automatically earned you the next dumpster dive no matter how good of a reason you had for interrupting. Really, there were very few good reasons for interrupting a vampire battle.

One memorable time, one of his team members’ had interrupted a vampire battle because a different probie had gotten turned into a vampire when taking initiative to interview a possible suspect. Gibbs had amended his rule 18, “It’s better to seek forgiveness than ask permission” , which he’d used many times to cover things on cases that would have taken too long to get permission to do to, “It’s better to seek forgiveness than ask permission, unless you got turned into a vampire for your stupidity” on the spot. He’d had to kill the probie who’d gotten himself turned into a vampire.

He was pretty sure that his remaining team members had tacked, “in that case, watch out for Gibbs and run!!” on to the end of his amended rule 18. He wouldn’t be surprised if that rule ended up making the rounds of NCIS along with the story of the idiot probie. He couldn’t believe that they hadn’t taken backup to interview someone.

Gibbs eyed the Baltimore detective that had tackled him and helped him solve a money laundering case. He’d had it with probies for the moment and the Director had happily given him an undercover case. He’d been really impressed with Anthony DiNozzo and after discussing it with Director Tom Morrow, he'd gone over to offer the guy a job dependant on what he planned to do about his dirty partner, Danny, that they’d realized was an accomplice to the money laundering case.

Finding out that DiNozzo had the morals that he couldn’t work with the guy any longer even though he couldn’t betray the guy by turning him in, Gibbs offered Tony a job. He knew this one would be trouble, not the least because of his attraction to the guy. He didn’t know the secret that Tony was hiding and had been hiding his entire life. 

See Tony was actually the child of a vampire, his father, and his human mate, his mother. Because vampire blood was stronger than that of human blood, he’d been born a full vampire. Not only were vampires hidden from most humans, but those that did know about vampires he didn’t want to know about him.

He didn’t need the added struggle of dodging vampire hunters nor did he need to attract the attention of the slayer. Because he was born a vampire, most people didn’t realize he wasn’t human. Still he needed blood and had ever since he’d been a kid. 

One of the housekeepers had taught him how to find a steady supply of blood. It wasn’t strictly legal, but it wasn’t actually illegal. Unlike most vampires that tried to live without taking human lives, he didn’t steal blood from a blood bank. 

The other option most vampires used was to find willing donors. Tony had done this in the past, but he found that most people weren’t to his taste. No, what he’d done was made a deal with a butcher to have them save their extra scraps and blood from the butchering process that they generally couldn’t sell. 

Not all of it was usable for his purposes, but he didn’t want to seem too suspicious as to why he wanted blood even if it was only animal blood. The animal blood wasn’t anywhere near as fulfilling as human blood by it’s simple nature, but Tony could go months and if he had to years without taking human blood if he had enough animal blood to support him. He usually ended up sampling human blood once a quarter and that seemed to keep his system on an even keel without attracting unwanted attention.

Admittedly, part of the reason he changed jobs every 2 years or so was to keep suspicion low. If he stuck around somewhere for too long, people might get suspicious of his deal with the butcher. He didn’t know what he was going to do about that with this job as he already could feel the attraction for Gibbs and knew he was going to find it hard to leave this job.

He’d accepted Gibbs offer, happy to have an easier option than the harder choices that had been facing him if he chose to stay in Baltimore. Of course, he had no clue that Gibbs was a potential. The first case they worked with a vampire that Gibbs ended up having to stake shocked Tony to death. 

He’d thought Gibbs’ rules a little quirky, but he’d never imagined that Gibbs actually had the potential to be the slayer. To top it all off, a couple years after he started working for Gibbs, a rogue vampire, Eli, killed off the previous slayer and Gibbs actually became the chosen slayer. Once safely home, after realizing that Gibbs truly was the slayer now, Tony couldn’t help muttering to himself, “Of course, you’re the slayer. That’s just the way my fucking apposite life goes. The one guy I fall in love with is destined to kill me.”

Still Tony continued to work for Gibbs. He just couldn’t bring himself to leave Gibbs even though he also knew he’d never admit to Gibbs that he was in love with him after the realization that Gibbs was supposed to kill him. There was no way that that reveal would go well if he started a relationship with Gibbs.

Unfortunately, Tony wasn’t given a choice about revealing his vampire nature. He’d gotten careless during one of the vampire battles that the MCRT always seemed to find themselves involved in, even more so since Gibbs became the slayer. One of the vampires managed to bite Tony’s neck, which if he had been human would have started the turning process. 

Tony quickly stabbed the vampire with a stake, but the damage had been done. Gibbs had noticed that he’d been bitten. Tony didn’t look forward to the report he’d have to make to Gibbs about this one.

They wrapped up the case and the vampire battle and Tony managed to escape after turning in his after action report. Or at least, he thought he’d escaped, but he should have known better. He kind of regretted giving Gibbs a key when the man used it to open his door and force a confrontation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gibbs' rules so far:  
> Rule 1 Never let vampires stay together  
> Rule 1 Never screw your partner (he or she is probably a vampire)  
> Rule 2 Always carry holy water and a cross  
> Rule 3 Don’t believe what you’re told. Double check that they have a reflection.  
> Rule 3 Always know where your friends are (never let them be unreachable - they’re probably with vampires if they are)  
> Rule 4 The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? tell one other person - if you must, Third way, get an amulet so no one can read your mind. There is no fourth best  
> Rule 5 You don’t waste good  
> Rule 6 Never say you’re sorry it’s a sign of weakness  
> Rule 7 Always be specific when you lie  
> Rule 8 Never take anything for granted  
> Rule 9 Never go anywhere without a stake  
> Rule 10 Never get personally involved with a vampire  
> Rule 11 When the job is done, walk away  
> Rule 12 Never, ever date a vampire  
> Rule 13 Never, ever involve lawyers, they’re probably working for a demotic firm  
> Rule 14 Bend the line, don’t break it  
> Rule 15 Always work as a team, or else you can become dinner for a vampire  
> Rule 16 If a vampire thinks they have the upper hand, break it  
> Rule 17 Never, ever interrupt Gibbs during a vampiric battle  
> Rule 18 It’s better to seek forgiveness than ask permission, unless you got turned into a vampire for your stupidity, in that case, watch out for Gibbs and run!!


	4. The confrontation and fallout

“How long since you were turned?”

“I was never turned. I was born this way. My father is a vampire.” Tony’s voice sounded bleak even to his own ears. He couldn’t help wondering if Gibbs would kick him off the team now. He supposed the only saving grace he had was that Gibbs didn’t know he was in love with him.

“So you’ve been a vampire the entire time I’ve known you?” Gibbs accused, betrayal coloring his face and voice.

“Yes, but I’m not like the vampires we bring to justice. I’ve never taken any human’s blood unwillingly.”

Gibbs stared at him unbelieving. He’d never met a vampire that hadn’t killed even a single human to take their blood. It didn’t help that his heart still wanted Tony despite his vampire nature.

“I can’t take that chance.”

“Gibbs. I haven’t changed. I’m still the same person you met back in Baltimore.”

Gibbs shook his head. “I’m going to have to put you on probation.”

Tony sighed, but knew there was no talking Gibbs out of this, right now. He only hoped that eventually time and patience would win out. At least, he hadn’t been kicked off the team entirely.

Ziva and McGee jumped on Tony being out with Gibbs to make him feel even worse. Tony couldn’t help wondering if he should just leave. Ziva and McGee were eating up Tony not being trusted by Gibbs.

Ziva continued to go out of her way to drive a wedge between Tony and Gibbs even more. Tony couldn’t help wondering if he should even be fighting to get back into Gibbs’ good graces. He ended up sharing his troubles with Jimmy who he’d gotten closer to during Gibbs’ brief Mexican siesta. Jimmy was the only one who hadn’t been doing their best to add more to his plate while Gibbs was gone. 

Jimmy tried to comfort him, but he didn’t have much to offer. He wasn’t part of the vampire or slayer community and didn’t understand how much it affected their lives. The next day at work Jimmy ended up sharing his concerns about Tony and Gibbs with Dr. Mallard, not realizing that Dr. Mallard was Gibbs’ watcher.

It ended up being a happy accident, though. Ducky assured Jimmy that he’d take care of. Unlike most watchers, Ducky didn’t actually believe all vampires were evil. 

He’d had a friend when he was much younger that was a vampire, who had successfully overcome his vampire impulses and done his best to live amongst humans peacefully. The vampire was dead now, having been caught on the wrong side of a slayer despite not harming humans. For many years, Ducky had hated slayers, but he’d soon realized that there was so much misinformation on both sides that the only way peace would ever be achieved is if there was someone on one side actively working to change the way the other side was viewed.

That’s when he’d agreed to join the watchers' council. Now, it was time for him to give Gibbs a piece of his mind. Gibbs wasn’t the stubborn young man that he’d first met, but Gibbs still tended to be set in his ways and sometimes needed to be steered in the right direction. What he was doing to poor Anthony was completely unfair and frankly unworthy of Gibbs’ normal nature.

Gibbs wasn’t a cruel man, but he was being cruel without meaning to, right now. Gibbs glared at Ducky as Ducky joined him in the basement. Whenever the watcher appeared unasked for in his home it never meant good things for him.

Usually it meant a lecture and frankly, he didn’t want to deal with one, right now. His mind was full enough with his feelings of betrayal and conflicting feelings of love. If he could tear out his heart, he would have by now.

“I’ve never known you to be purposefully cruel.” Ducky ignored Gibbs’ glare and continued down the steps to meet him anyway.

Gibbs grunted. Yep. A lecture was headed his way already. He tried to ignore Ducky, but the man had a way of talking that made it impossible to drown him out when he wanted you to listen.

Especially when Ducky used the phrase, the boy is in love with you. “What? What are you talking about? He’s not in love with me and even if he was why should I care. He’s a freaking vampire, Ducky.”

“And what because you’re the slayer you have to kill him? You never killed Stephanie.”

“That’s different I married her.”

“If that’s the only thing that stops you from killing him, then marry him too.”

Gibbs stared at Ducky aghast. “Where is all this coming from? Aren’t you supposed to be lecturing me on the dangers of trusting vampires?”

“Tony isn’t just a vampire, Leroy. He’s been a damn good agent for you for the last 8 years or so. He’s never balked at taking down a vampire when it needs to happen. He’s not the same as the other vampires. You can trust him.”

“But can I trust him enough to love him?” Gibbs whispered, softly, almost broken.

“You already do.” Ducky pointed out. “You know you’d do anything for that boy. Anybody else you’d have already kicked off the team if not flat out killed for infiltrating the slayer’s team.”

Gibbs slumped. He hated when Ducky was right. “How do I fix this, Ducky?”

“You take that boy out on a proper date now that you both know what each other are and apologize properly to him for your knee jerk reaction.”

“Will that be enough?”

“Probably not, but it’s a start. You should also reinstate him to the SFA position on your team and curtail McGee and Ziva’s crowing. I don’t know what happened to rule 15, but those two definitely haven’t been following it for a long time.”

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully. He had a lot to think about including whether he could really trust his heart and give DiNozzo a shot at being his lover. Ducky recognized that Gibbs needed time to percolate, though Gibbs would never admit it, and left Gibbs’ house for the night. 

He’d see what happened in the coming weeks. Hopefully one lecture was all Gibbs needed, but sometimes the man remained stubborn in ways that didn’t make sense. Ducky tried his best to keep out of his charge’s personal life, but he just couldn’t let Gibbs make the worst mistake of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are still Gibbs' rules:  
> Rule 1 Never let vampires stay together  
> Rule 1 Never screw your partner (he or she is probably a vampire)  
> Rule 2 Always carry holy water and a cross  
> Rule 3 Don’t believe what you’re told. Double check that they have a reflection.  
> Rule 3 Always know where your friends are (never let them be unreachable - they’re probably with vampires if they are)  
> Rule 4 The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? tell one other person - if you must, Third way, get an amulet so no one can read your mind. There is no fourth best  
> Rule 5 You don’t waste good  
> Rule 6 Never say you’re sorry it’s a sign of weakness  
> Rule 7 Always be specific when you lie  
> Rule 8 Never take anything for granted  
> Rule 9 Never go anywhere without a stake  
> Rule 10 Never get personally involved with a vampire  
> Rule 11 When the job is done, walk away  
> Rule 12 Never, ever date a vampire  
> Rule 13 Never, ever involve lawyers, they’re probably working for a demotic firm  
> Rule 14 Bend the line, don’t break it  
> Rule 15 Always work as a team, or else you can become dinner for a vampire  
> Rule 16 If a vampire thinks they have the upper hand, break it  
> Rule 17 Never, ever interrupt Gibbs during a vampiric battle  
> Rule 18 It’s better to seek forgiveness than ask permission, unless you got turned into a vampire for your stupidity, in that case, watch out for Gibbs and run!!
> 
> I just couldn't work more than 18 rules into this story. It was already super long. Sorry!


	5. The invitation

Tony arrived early to NCIS headquarters wishing that this were like some jobs where if you were here early you could leave early, but no you had to stay until the normal day end regardless of what time you arrived unless you made special arrangements beforehand. 

If today continued like the last few days, Tony would want out of there by lunch time if not earlier. He dished out enough teasing that if McGee and Ziva were just teasing, it wouldn’t be an issue. What they were doing went beyond teasing and into purposefully cruel, however, and Gibbs wasn’t doing a damn thing to back him up.

Tony couldn’t help himself. He started typing up his resignation letter before everyone else arrived. Normally, when he typed up his resignation letter he used his home computer and activated some protections to prevent others from discovering what he was doing.

Right now, he didn’t care enough if anyone else found out. Yes, he was a vampire, but he didn’t go killing people. As far as he knew there were no rules about NCIS employing vampires.

Yet, somehow his being a vampire was more evil than Miss Mossad selling NCIS secrets to her Mossad daddy. It sucked. If it weren’t for Gibbs, Tony would have turned in his resignation long before his secret vampire life was ever revealed. 

Tony was trying to be understanding of Gibbs’ position as the slayer, but he was running out of patience and wasn’t sure how much longer he would last without snapping and turning in his resignation. Fortunately, no one was around to notice as he typed up his resignation letter. Oh, he was sure that Abby would find it sometime after she got in, but by that time things would likely be set in motion in one way or another.

He wasn’t prepared for Gibbs to stroll in and drop Tony’s favorite hot chocolate off on Tony’s desk as he continued on to his. Truthfully, he didn’t even think Gibbs knew his favorite hot chocolate. He generally ordered hazelnut coffee around the team, but his vampire system definitely handled the hot chocolate better than the coffee. 

Even being born a vampire didn’t make him immune to the effects that coffee worked on a vampiric system. No one really talked about it much, but it was a well known secret in the vampire community that coffee was actually worse for their system than most street drugs. Something about the way the coffee bonded with the vampiric portions of their dna caused their system to start degrading. 

A few vampires had actually died of old age because they’d consumed too much coffee during their life. Most didn’t take it that far, though. It kind of sucked because coffee was the human drug of choice and you stood out if you didn’t drink it. 

At the same time, coffee was extremely addictive to vampires and it was really hard to drink even a single cup of coffee a day without wanting to drink even more. You truly needed to take in a significant source of human blood to counteract the coffee if you didn’t want it to destroy your system permanently. Tony tried to keep his caffeine intake limited and generally tried to nurse one cup of coffee all day for appearances sake.

Even with that, though, his body still struggled not to start falling apart from the interactions between the coffee and his vampiric blood. Tony was pretty sure no one other than perhaps Ducky knew what had really happened when he’d supposedly gotten the plague. The white powder he’d breathed in had contained the plague, but his system was designed to fight off infections and kicked it easily.

No, what had really landed him in the hospital was the coffee bonding with his vampiric blood. He hadn’t been getting in enough human blood that could handle the coffee appropriately and his system had started degrading, scarring his lungs which helped it seem like effects from the plague, but it really wasn’t. He’d had to receive multiple blood transfusions at the hospital in order to get his system back in order and ever since then Ducky and Dr. Pitt had carefully monitored his caffeine to human blood intake to make sure he stayed healthy.

He’d been surprised that Ducky hadn’t come down on him for being a vampire at that point in time. Ducky had to have known what the interaction between coffee and his blood meant, but he never said anything, not even to Gibbs. Given the way Gibbs reacted to the revelation that he was already a vampire, Tony knew there was no way that he’d known before.

Tony appreciated the hot chocolate, immediately setting his coffee to the side to dump later and sipping the hot chocolate, closing his eyes in bliss as the soothing liquid worked its way through his system. Gibbs had to look away at Tony’s obvious enjoyment. He’d known that Tony liked that kind of hot chocolate, but he hadn’t really known how much. 

Gibbs had stopped by autopsy on his way in today to have a chat with Ducky and had found out that Ducky had known that Tony was a vampire for years. Ducky had been watching for signs that Tony was hiding something from them ever since and he’d never seen any. In fact, Ducky had shared that Tony tended to go overboard on blending in and caused himself more harm than anyone else.

Gibbs knew that Ducky shouldn’t have shared that with him. That it was part of doctor/patient confidentiality and he appreciated the trust Ducky was showing him to handle that information well. Gibbs had originally planned to bring Tony coffee, but after finding out what it did to his system he didn’t think he’d ever bring Tony coffee again.

He still wasn’t sure about the idea of starting a relationship with Tony, but now that he’d had a chance to think about it, he knew his original reaction had been overboard and harsh. He’d already updated Tony’s paperwork to reflect that he was fully reinstated again as the SFA for the team, though Gibbs doubted that Tony or anyone else would bother to check the paperwork. After all, it was well known that Gibbs hated paperwork with a passion and turned it in late as frequently as he could.

He understood Tony’s playboy tendencies a little better now too. He wasn’t a doctor, but he knew that ejaculation contained human DNA and thus would be a good source of some of the human nutrients Tony needed to handle the coffee. Blood was better, but it was also more suspicious to get a hold of.

They still had an hour before McGee or Ziva would show up. The two of them had been showing up later and later forcing Gibbs and Tony to stay late and Gibbs was going to put an end to it, but for now he had to figure out how to broach the subject of a date with Tony before they showed up. He sank into contemplative silence as he tried to figure out what would be best.

Tony kept shooting him weird looks because while it wasn’t uncommon for Gibbs to be silent, it was usually because he was working and he didn’t appear to be doing anything work related, right now. Gibbs kept coming up with ideas and immediately tossing them out as too corny, too cheesy, too cheap, etc. Realizing that McGee and Ziva could show up at any moment, Gibbs fell back on his default plan, “Steaks tonight. My place. If we don’t catch a case?”

Tony blinked, “Sure, boss.” Tony knew this would either be really good or really bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are still Gibbs' rules:  
> Rule 1 Never let vampires stay together  
> Rule 1 Never screw your partner (he or she is probably a vampire)  
> Rule 2 Always carry holy water and a cross  
> Rule 3 Don’t believe what you’re told. Double check that they have a reflection.  
> Rule 3 Always know where your friends are (never let them be unreachable - they’re probably with vampires if they are)  
> Rule 4 The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? tell one other person - if you must, Third way, get an amulet so no one can read your mind. There is no fourth best  
> Rule 5 You don’t waste good  
> Rule 6 Never say you’re sorry it’s a sign of weakness  
> Rule 7 Always be specific when you lie  
> Rule 8 Never take anything for granted  
> Rule 9 Never go anywhere without a stake  
> Rule 10 Never get personally involved with a vampire  
> Rule 11 When the job is done, walk away  
> Rule 12 Never, ever date a vampire  
> Rule 13 Never, ever involve lawyers, they’re probably working for a demotic firm  
> Rule 14 Bend the line, don’t break it  
> Rule 15 Always work as a team, or else you can become dinner for a vampire  
> Rule 16 If a vampire thinks they have the upper hand, break it  
> Rule 17 Never, ever interrupt Gibbs during a vampiric battle  
> Rule 18 It’s better to seek forgiveness than ask permission, unless you got turned into a vampire for your stupidity, in that case, watch out for Gibbs and run!!
> 
> I just couldn't work more than 18 rules into this story. It was already super long. Sorry!


	6. Gibbs' struggle

As the day progressed, Tony couldn’t help hoping that it was good news. There was nothing overt, but Gibbs had subtly curtailed McGee and Ziva’s cruel words throughout the day. He never outright called them on it, but he did find them something else to do whenever they resorted to cruel words disguised as joking. 

Tony knew that Gibbs was never a fan of talking about a problem. He expected people to figure out what was going on based on actions. In fact, if Gibbs had to actually use his words with someone to get them to realize that what they were doing was wrong it was generally a sign that the person would soon be leaving the team.

Ziva and McGee were already responding to Gibbs’ subtle change in body language without even realizing it. Tony hoped that this meant that whatever Gibbs had planned for tonight was a good sign and not him telling Tony that he was off the team for good. Fortunately, they didn’t catch a case.

In fact, Gibbs sent Tony home early much to the protest of McGee and Ziva who he kept late to finish some of the reports that they’d been slacking on because Tony had asked them to make changes and they didn’t do what Tony said. Not that protesting did any good for McGee or Ziva, all it did was make Gibbs pile more work on them that they needed to finish before he’d let them leave for the day. Gibbs wished that he could leave, but with the way Ziva and McGee had been behaving he knew if he left that he’d come in in the morning to find they hadn’t finished their work.

Curbing their bad behavior, unfortunately, was more important than his date with Tony. Still, he wasn’t going to stand the man up. Shooting off a short text underneath his desk where neither McGee nor Ziva could see, he let Tony know that he probably wouldn’t be to his place until 7 and that if Tony wanted to he could go ahead and start the steaks marinating and he’d cook them when he got home.

Even if his house was locked, which was rare, Tony had a key, so Gibbs knew he could get in easily. He glanced at his phone when it notified him of a text message, smiling slightly when he saw that Tony had replied, “Steaks are marinating.”

McGee and Ziva saw the smile and hoped that meant that they could leave. They started packing up thinking that they either had a case or were done for the day.

“Where do you think you’re going? You can’t leave until your reports are on my desk.”

“But Gibbs…”

“No buts. Tony was in early and all of his reports are complete. Not that I should have to explain myself to you two. Now finish those reports, so that we can all go home.” Gibbs growled.

McGee and Ziva sunk back into their seats, chastised. Neither of them was overly happy about the way the day had gone, but they knew better than to question Gibbs when he was in a mood like he was today. Fortunately, they made quick work of the reports Gibbs wanted and everyone was able to leave for the day soon.

Gibbs had to review the reports quickly to confirm that they’d fixed the errors Tony had noted and was happy to see that they had. Signing off on the reports, Gibbs sent them up to the director and headed to his house to join Tony for steaks and hopefully ask the man out on an actual date. Even Gibbs knew that tonight wouldn’t count as a date as Tony had no idea what was even going on.

He was pleased to see that Tony had indeed started the steaks marinating. He’d taught Tony the marinade he preferred to use a while back when Tony had been visiting his house more frequently. The visits had dropped off after Gibbs became the slayer and he hadn’t known why.

Now, it made more sense. Still, he was happy to see that Tony hadn’t forgotten how to do the marinade even if he didn’t come over like he used to. “How long?” 

Tony looked up at Gibbs, “30 minutes.”

Gibbs nodded. That should be enough time even though he usually tried to let steaks this size marinate for at least an hour. “So you have two choices… One I can put the steaks on now and we can wait until after dinner to talk or we can give the steaks another 30 minutes to marinate and we can talk now.”

“Now, please.” Normally, Tony would put off conversations he knew were going to be hard, but this particular one had him tied up in so many knots that he didn’t know which end was up and there was no way he’d be able to eat before they’d talked at least a little bit.

Gibbs sighed, but nodded. Of course, Tony picked the option that was harder for Gibbs. He’d never been good at talking and it was going to be up to him to start since Tony had no idea why Gibbs had even invited him over.

Gibbs opened and closed his mouth a couple of times trying to find a good starting place and coming up as short as he’d come up in the office when he originally invited Tony over. Tony knew then that whatever Gibbs wanted to talk about was serious. Gibbs had always been a man of few words, but he only struggled like this when he couldn’t afford to mess up his words, which incidentally meant that whatever the topic it was very important to Gibbs that he get it right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are still Gibbs' rules:  
> Rule 1 Never let vampires stay together  
> Rule 1 Never screw your partner (he or she is probably a vampire)  
> Rule 2 Always carry holy water and a cross  
> Rule 3 Don’t believe what you’re told. Double check that they have a reflection.  
> Rule 3 Always know where your friends are (never let them be unreachable - they’re probably with vampires if they are)  
> Rule 4 The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? tell one other person - if you must, Third way, get an amulet so no one can read your mind. There is no fourth best  
> Rule 5 You don’t waste good  
> Rule 6 Never say you’re sorry it’s a sign of weakness  
> Rule 7 Always be specific when you lie  
> Rule 8 Never take anything for granted  
> Rule 9 Never go anywhere without a stake  
> Rule 10 Never get personally involved with a vampire  
> Rule 11 When the job is done, walk away  
> Rule 12 Never, ever date a vampire  
> Rule 13 Never, ever involve lawyers, they’re probably working for a demotic firm  
> Rule 14 Bend the line, don’t break it  
> Rule 15 Always work as a team, or else you can become dinner for a vampire  
> Rule 16 If a vampire thinks they have the upper hand, break it  
> Rule 17 Never, ever interrupt Gibbs during a vampiric battle  
> Rule 18 It’s better to seek forgiveness than ask permission, unless you got turned into a vampire for your stupidity, in that case, watch out for Gibbs and run!!
> 
> I just couldn't work more than 18 rules into this story. It was already super long. Sorry!


	7. The conversation and some hints

“Come on, Jethro.” Tony dared to use his preferred familiar name, “This is me. You know you can tell me anything. Is it something with Jackson?”

Gibbs shook his head. He and Jackson had patched things up a couple of years back. It was easier to forgive his father for the way things had gone down when he wasn’t living under his roof anymore. 

“Come on, Jethro. Don’t make me guess.” Tony pleaded.

Gibbs lips couldn’t help twitching up into a smile. Tony always had the ability to make him smile even when things seemed terrible. Not knowing any other way to bring it up, Gibbs blurted, “Will you go out with me?”

Gibbs followed the awkward question up with a blush. He felt like he was in high school again. He couldn’t believe that he couldn’t find a more smooth way to ask Tony out.

Tony blinked up at Gibbs confused. That wasn’t at all where he thought the conversation was going. “What? But don’t you hate me for being a vampire?”

Gibbs slumped. “Of course, I don’t. I could never hate you. I just never expected you, of all people, to be a vampire. It took me by surprise and I handled it badly.”

Wow. That was pretty damn close to an apology from Gibbs. Tony’s head was still spinning around on its axis like a compass trying to find which way was north in this conversation. “Ok…” Tony drawled out slowly, not entirely sure what to say to that.

Gibbs took a deep breath, knowing that he’d have to explain better. “I felt betrayed like you had lied to me for years.”

Tony nodded. To be fair, he kind of had.

Gibbs continued, needing to get it out before he lost his courage, “Ducky made me realize that you weren’t purposefully lying to me. That you were only looking out for yourself. You knew how people would react if they knew you were a vampire and you didn’t want that anymore than you wanted to keep it a secret from me.”

Tony nodded. He had never wanted to keep it a secret, but he hadn’t seen how he could tell the slayer he was a vampire either. 

“Ducky reassured me that while he hadn’t shared it with me he’d known for years and that I was crazy if I thought you were different because I suddenly knew you were a vampire.” Here Gibbs lips quirked up as he remembered what Ducky had actually called him. “He made me realize that I hadn’t trusted you anymore than you’d trusted me and for that I’m sorry.”

Tony’s mouth dropped open. Gibbs actually used the words I’m sorry. He wanted to give Gibbs such a bad time about using those words, but he couldn’t bring himself to break the moment either.

“I know,” Gibbs grinned sheepishly, “but it’s true. I am sorry. There’s something I should have told you a long time ago.”

“I’m sorry, too.” Tony whispered, “I should have told you I was a vampire sooner, but I was too scared especially once you became the slayer instead of just a potential.”

Gibbs held out his hands in the generally accepted form of an offered hug. When Tony easily molded himself to Gibbs’ body and returned the hug, Gibbs whispered in his ear, “I never hid that I was the slayer. It would have been impossible with all the vampires targeting the MCRT, but I did hide something even more dangerous. I’m in love with you and have been for years.”

Tony laughed, squeezing Gibbs even tighter in the hug. “That’s good. I’m in love with you too. I don’t know how we’ll make this work, but if you’re game for trying. I am too.”

“Does that mean you’re willing to let me take you on a date?” Gibbs asked hopefully.

“Yes, yes it does.” Tony murmured, daringly dropping a soft kiss on Gibbs’ lips.

What neither of them knew and wouldn’t find out for many years is that their mating had actually been foretold in prophecies that neither vampires nor slayers wanted to admit existed. Neither side wanted to believe that they could actually live in harmony with the other, but the truth was slayers were actually originally the vampire version of a cop. They’d originally lived in harmony with the vampire clans, keeping the vampires safe and healthy by dealing with the vampire criminals and keeping the peace with the humans. 

Somewhere over the years their role had been perverted into killing all vampires and most vampires had lost their way believing humans to be food instead of another sentient species to live in harmony with. It would take many years before peace would be achieved and neither Gibbs nor Tony would appreciate being at the center of the change, but they had always both done what they must to survive and be happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are still Gibbs' rules:  
> Rule 1 Never let vampires stay together  
> Rule 1 Never screw your partner (he or she is probably a vampire)  
> Rule 2 Always carry holy water and a cross  
> Rule 3 Don’t believe what you’re told. Double check that they have a reflection.  
> Rule 3 Always know where your friends are (never let them be unreachable - they’re probably with vampires if they are)  
> Rule 4 The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? tell one other person - if you must, Third way, get an amulet so no one can read your mind. There is no fourth best  
> Rule 5 You don’t waste good  
> Rule 6 Never say you’re sorry it’s a sign of weakness  
> Rule 7 Always be specific when you lie  
> Rule 8 Never take anything for granted  
> Rule 9 Never go anywhere without a stake  
> Rule 10 Never get personally involved with a vampire  
> Rule 11 When the job is done, walk away  
> Rule 12 Never, ever date a vampire  
> Rule 13 Never, ever involve lawyers, they’re probably working for a demotic firm  
> Rule 14 Bend the line, don’t break it  
> Rule 15 Always work as a team, or else you can become dinner for a vampire  
> Rule 16 If a vampire thinks they have the upper hand, break it  
> Rule 17 Never, ever interrupt Gibbs during a vampiric battle  
> Rule 18 It’s better to seek forgiveness than ask permission, unless you got turned into a vampire for your stupidity, in that case, watch out for Gibbs and run!!
> 
> I just couldn't work more than 18 rules into this story. It was already super long. Sorry! 
> 
> Finally, the end... With hope for a sequel... Maybe... Depends on muse and interest. :D

**Author's Note:**

> Woot! I am excited to have finished this monstrous story. I'm not sure if I'll manage to keep up daily posting or not. I do have 14 of the 26 stories that I'm trying to get written that would guarantee daily posting is possible completed. However, I only have the next 5 stories after this one written, so wish me luck in getting the upcoming stories finished in time to continue to post daily. Regardless you'll get at least 6 days in a row and hopefully more from me. Woo!
> 
> Also, if I've been too slow fulfilling your prompts there is maybe a sliver of hope. Tardis_Type40 has her own prompts up. She offers more than NCIS fandoms, so if you want a fandom that I'm not delivering maybe she'll suit your needs. Her prompts are [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/TT40PromptMeme/profile). She hasn't been writing as many NCIS works recently, so I have no idea how responsive she'll be to completing your prompts, but feel free to prompt her and see if she can get your prompt done before me. Don't worry I'll still be doing all of my current prompts and my prompts are still open, see below information, but she's a friend and I encourage you to prompt her too.
> 
> I've started a new [poll](https://cutsycat.livejournal.com/55450.html) regarding my series and which ones people most want to see continued in place of the Rapprochement series which I have brought to an end for now... 
> 
> Note: The Bishop Entanglement, Crazy Cat Tale, and Pregnant FBI Agent series will be continued no matter what, so you don't need to vote for those. For those who don't have livejournals just leave a comment with your responses. Thanks!
> 
> Also, I'm looking for some writing buddies. Full details are [here](https://cutsycat.livejournal.com/53610.html). It is friends locked, so you'll have to add me as a friend on lj before you can read it.
> 
> Also, Drakonyashka has translated a couple of my works into Russian. [Tutelage](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378780) and [Imbue](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378840). Go support them. 
> 
> My 2018 Prompt collection is now open [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2018/profile). Just click the sign up link. ;)
> 
> If you are not an ao3 member, you can prompt me [here](http://cutsycat.livejournal.com/50701.html). Please follow the same rules as are listed in the above link. However, because this is a handmade prompt form(that thinks it's a poll), it is considerably more limited than what ao3 provides, so please use the ao3 form if you're an ao3 member. Please note the name option is for a name that I can say this is for so that you know it's for you. Since this is for non ao3 members it won't be true gifts, but you will be mentioned in the notes.
> 
> Feel free to leave feedback here if you think something could be improved(either in the prompt process or the story itself).


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